1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to memory devices based on phase change materials including chalcogenide materials, and methods for operating such devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Phase change based memory materials, like chalcogenide based materials and similar materials, can be caused to change between an amorphous phase and a crystalline phase by application of electrical current at levels suitable for implementation in integrated circuits. The amorphous phase is characterized by higher electrical resistivity than the crystalline phase, which can be readily read to indicate data. These properties have generated interest in using programmable resistive material to form non-volatile memory circuits, which can be read and written with random access.
The change from the amorphous to the crystalline phase, referred to as a set operation herein, is generally a lower current operation. The change from crystalline to amorphous phase, referred to as a reset operation herein, is generally a higher current operation, which includes a short high current density pulse to melt or breakdown the crystalline structure, after which the phase change material cools quickly, quenching the phase change process and allowing at least a portion of the phase change material to stabilize in the amorphous phase.
After repeated set and reset operations, phase change memory cells can experience a ‘stuck-set failure’ or reset failure mode in which the reset operation can no longer sufficiently increase the resistance of the memory cell On the other hand, the memory cells can also experience a “stuck-high failure” or set failure mode in which the set operation cannot sufficiently reduce the resistance of the memory cell. These failure modes limit the cycle endurance of the device.
It is therefore desirable to provide phase change based memory devices and methods for operating which address the endurance issues associated with the stuck-set or stuck-high failure modes.